From Bird's Eye Tea

Ingredients: Chamomile, Skullcap, Catnip, Spearmint, Rose, licorice

This is a simple blend to help calm the body at the end of the day. My sister grew the catnip for this blend. The skullcap and chamomile come from farms in Oregon. I like to use a variety of mild relaxants when I make any evening teas because everyone has a really specific combination of tensions in their body. Some folks hold tension in thoughts, others in their muscles.

One of my favorite herbs is skullcap, it is a nervine which is high in calcium, potassium, and magnesium. Skullcap strengthens the nervous system, its anti-spasmodic herbal action makes it a great herb for folks who feel restless and have easily excitable nervous systems (for example, easily fearful or stressed). Skullcap is also commonly used to calm the mind, aid in meditation, and reduce emotions like anger and irritability. It is also one of the herbs used to help people break addictions.

Chamomile is a very mild relaxing herb. It calms the gastric system, nervous system, is also used to treat insomnia and in blends for headaches. Catnip is another nervine which relaxes without sedating. Great for soothing the nerves and quieting an overactive mind. Catnip is also a diaphoretic (induces sweating) which makes it a great herb in many cold and flu blends because it induces sleep and sweating, making it a terrific for instances where fever is present. I usually add mint to sleep blends because they are very aromatic, taste delicious, and have a slightly calming effect on the body. Mints are carminative and used for inflammatory diseases, aid in digestion of meats or difficult to digest foods, nausea, colic in babies, etc.

Chamomile, mints, and catnip had very common culinary uses in Europe up until about 100 years ago when they were slowly phased out of culinary use…to be replaced by foods that are highly processed, lack medicinal character, full of artificial sweeteners and flavorings, and are ultimately blind to our macro and micro nutritional needs. I am so grateful that culinary and medicinal herbs are making a comeback. The resurgence of natural medicine and increased awareness about herbalism gives me hope that we, as a society, will start thinking about our food as medicine and our medicine as food. High healthcare costs make nutritional and natural health education a better option for millions of uninsured like myself. Humans evolved alongside and relied on most of the plants I incorporate into teas and the snacks I make for you each month. Thank you for being open to the healing potential and the trust I have in nature to provide me with great ingredients for teas!

1 Tasting Note

I really have enjoyed all the teas that I’ve tried from Bird’s Eye Tea, and I was actually surprised at how much I really enjoyed this one. I am not usually a big fan of chamomile but this is a really good night time tisane.

The spearmint is a subtle note, and the licorice-y tones are faint. I guess I’d like a little more licorice, really, because I do love licorice. But, it’s a really tasty tisane even with the mellow flavors!